Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful is relentless in her quest to have all Ghanaians register their sim cards with the Ghana Card.
The Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu announced the new extension date during a press briefing held today, Sunday, July 31, 2022. This followed after over 6 million Ghanaians failed to meet the initial deadline of the registration.
She told the press, “The programme will be extended to 30 September to end the anniversary of its commencement which will give us a full year. Any sim that has not been registered by end of August will be barred from receiving services.”
The Ghana Card has become an even more important document; it identifies nationality, registers businesses, helps citizens travel, for banking etc.
According to available data, there are close to 20 million active SIM cards in Ghana. Meanwhile, the National Identification Authority intimated that only about 15 million people have their Ghana Cards.
There is a backlog of nearly 2 million people who do not yet have their Ghana Cards and are unable to register SIM cards in their names.
Speaking in a recent interview, the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation has issued another stern warning to those who have tagged themselves as ‘Stubborn Academy’ unwilling to register their sim.
Ursula in an interview on Asaase Radio has indicated that by the end of August, people who have not registered their sim cards will find it very expensive to use an unregistered sim card.
She said their data and airtime will run out easily and they will be limited on the services they enjoy currently.
“If by the end of August they haven’t registered their sims, they will find that it’s more expensive to use an unregistered sim than it is to use a registered one and they will begin to feel the pinch.
Akin to what you were suggesting there will be some services that they can’t access on their devices and their top-ups will disappear much faster than for those who are using registered sims and a few other measures that will be announced in due course.
They can keep being stubborn,” she said on Asaase Radio in Accra.
